Love, Love, Love
by Malfoy Mouth James- MMJ
Summary: You love, love, love when you know I can't love you.
1. Love, Love, Love

You love, love, love,

when you know I can't love.

You love, love, love when you know I can't love you…

"Good evening, M'Lady." Chat Noir said as he landed on the rooftop next to Paris' heroine.

She didn't take her eyes away from the city lights as she replied, brushing her bangs back into place after a gust of wind.

"Hello, Chat."

Frowning, he peered closer at her, noticing the splotchiness of her usually smooth skin and red eyes. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"Liar." He sighed and kicked his feet out over the edge of the roof, swinging them back and forth. "You were crying."

She sniffled, only further proving his point. "It's nothing."

"Not if it made you cry, it's not. Ladybug, you can tell me anything." He stressed.

She turned her head slightly to look at him, her eyes reflecting the lights from below in her tears. She wiped softly at her face as they started to escape. He reached out and smoothed away the ones she missed, cupping her jaw. "What's wrong?"

"I don't- I don't want to hurt you." She said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed and pulled away, looking back out over her city. She didn't meet his eyes as she said, "There's a boy."

"Oh." A beat. "Did he do something?" Another. "Or…?"

She nodded barely. "I like him." Her voice was almost carried away by the wind and if he hadn't been holding his breath he would have missed it.

"O-Okay. But… Why the tears?"

"He doesn't even know I exist."

Chat's eyebrows furrowed at that. How could someone miss this girl in front of him who was so wonderful and unique? How could this boy not notice her? "That can't be true, LB. You're too… amazing."

"No!" She said angrily, taking him aback. "I'm not! I mea, sure, Ladybug is. She's so strong and smart and everything I wish I could be, but the girl behind her is none of that. She's clumsy and stubborn and has a terrible temper, and-"

He cut her off before she could continue. "Stop, just stop. Don't say those kinds of things about yourself, or you'll start to believe them." She opened her mouth to respond, but he placed his hand over it to silence her. "And they're not true. If Ladybug is all those great things it's only because that girl behind her is too. You can't become something amazing if that personality isn't already in there somewhere." He took his hand back so she could talk again.

"But-" She groaned, tipping her head back to the stars. "She doesn't feel like any of those things. She needs this stupid mask to be that."

"That doesn't mean she isn't them- she is. You just… Need to let all of that out as her. Let the girl behind the mask shine as brightly as the heroine all of Paris adores."

She sighed again and shook her head. "I don't think it would matter. You don't understand, if he hasn't noticed me yet there's nothing I can do that will change it."

"You never know until you try." He paused before pushing his luck, "Who is it?"

Ladybug shook her head again. "No. No, Chat. You know we can't say anything about who we are."

"But-"

She shook her head once more, effectively cutting him off.

He sighed and looked out over the city. "Alright. What is he like, then?"

She was silent for so long he thought she wasn't going to answer, but eventually she opened her mouth again and it all poured out into the night air. "He's… perfect? No, not perfect. It's what he wants everyone to think, but he's not perfect at all. He's smart but only because he tries so hard. He's always trying to make everyone else happy and I wish he would just do something for himself for once. He likes physics, and he could something so great with that if he only went for it. He's kind and funny, when he lets it show anyways. And honestly I should just be happy when he tells people I'm his friend, but I don't want him to see me as M-mundane and a 'good friend.' I… I want to be more than that."

Chat nodded in understanding. He felt like she understood him more than she even knew. "Do you love him?"

She frowned, kicking her legs aggressively as she thought. "I'm not sure. Sometimes, I think I do. But then I ask myself if I even really know what that means. What the hell is love? And if I do love him, who knows if it's the right kind. And he deserves more than me- than this clumsy girl who doesn't even know if she loves him or not."

"I think you do."

She looks over at him, surprised. "How can you tell?"

He shrugged and picked at the material of his glove. "It's just something in your voice, and your face. When you talk about him, you're invested, you know? You can see past that facade he puts up and get to the real him, and I believe it takes real love to do that. I think you love him Ladybug, but you're scared of what that means."

"Of course I am!" She exclaims, throwing her arms in the air. They fell back down limply to her lap. "Because if I do, what happens then? He continues to look right past me and- and I've wasted all that time and emotion-"

"It's not a waste. It's never a waste. Because even if they don't see it, they had somebody who at one point loved them with everything they could. And I don't think anyone could look past you forever. You're brilliant, LB. And- I'm sure you already know this, but- I love you if it's any consolation."

She looked at him, her eyes slightly wide. "Chat-"

He held up his hands. "No, it's okay. I know."

"This is why I didn't want to say anything. I'm so sorry, Chat… If-" She stopped.

He raised a masked eyebrow. "What?"

"Maybe if I had gotten to know you first- I could… I could have-"

"Ladybug. Really, it's okay. Don't go beating yourself up like that. Please."

She pursed her lips but nodded in acceptance.

"Good."

They sat in comfortable silence, just watching the city fall asleep under the dark blanket of the sky.

Yes, he loved ladybug. And yes, he probably always would. But he wanted her to be happy, and if that meant she wanted someone else, then he would support her. She deserved it. He loved her, knowing she couldn't love him.

"Chat?"

He turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Don't- Don't let that hold you back, though."

"What do you mean?"

She met his eyes before looking away again. "I mean, don't waste your time loving me. Please? I don't want to hold you back like that. I know you could find a girl who would love the hell out of you."

He blinked before nodding. "Alright."


	2. Something Big

Something big ,

I feel it happening-

out of my control.

"Hey, Ladybug?"

It had been five months, maybe more, since their heart-to-heart on a rooftop under the nighttime Paris sky.

"Yeah?"

They were out on patrol, running across rooftops and making sure all was well.

"Did you mean what you said?"

She looked over her shoulder before looking forward again to jump the gap between buildings. "What did I say?"

"To not let my love for you hold me back."

"Oh." She said. "Of course."

He felt something in his gut twist but loosen all at once. On one side, he was almost hoping she would change her mind, forget about this mystery guy who didn't appreciate her, and jump into his arms. But realistically he knew that wasn't going to happen, and he was grateful for her support. Plus...

"Okay, okay. Cool."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Alright, then."

"- Are you sure?" He asked the next day in the middle of an akuma attack.

"Oh my goodness, Chat, yes!" Ladybug grunted, shoving back the akuma and swiping their feet out from under them.

"Cool, cool." She shot him a look before calling up her lucky charm.

Two patrols and five akuma attacks later, and they were coming to a close on the next patrol when Ladybug sighed, placed her gloved hand on his shoulder, and told him to sit down.

"What?" He asked.

"That's my question. What's up with you?"

"Uhm, I'm cold?" He was pretty cold, seeing as December was slowly creeping up on them. But according to the look on Ladybug's face, that hadn't been what she meant.

"You keep asking me if I'm sure about what I said- I am," she threw in when he opened his mouth, "- and you've been acting… funny. Is something wrong, Chat?"

Oh. So that had been what she meant. Was there something wrong? "That depends on how you look at it." He sighed.

"Oh?"

"I don't know how to explain it."

"Is there a girl?"

His mind flickered with the image of grey cardigans and pink flats. "Maybe."

"And are you upset about that?"

"Kind of!" He said angrily. "It's not like I wanted to make my life anymore complicated."

She laughed only slightly bitterly. "I'll meet you on that one. But you don't need to be upset, you know that, right?"

"But-"

"Chat, this is for the best. You know that we can't be anything more than friends, partners. And you know that I… That I like somebody else, so why shouldn't you? Just because you want to keep loving me doesn't mean that you should push everyone else, and your own happiness, away. If you like this girl, you should go for it!"

"How?" He whined. "I don't know how to do that, the only way I could think of already failed, and I think she hates me-"

"Well, if you pummel her with as many puns as you do me, then I could see why." Ladybug joked, lightly pushing his shoulder. "Come on now, your method can't fail on every girl. I'm sure she doesn't actually hate you."

"No you don't understand, there's no other explanation!"

"Okay, what makes you think that she hates you?"

"Well- Well she… Whenever I walk up she makes an excuse to run away or if I try to talk to her she starts stuttering and saying weird things. And when I try to help her out or anything at all, she gets all red and won't talk to me."

Ladybug gave him a look and raised a single eyebrow at him. "Yeah… She totally hates you."

Chat groaned. "See? What did I tell you."

"Chat, I was being sarcastic." She giggled. "It sounds to me like she's got a huge crush on you."  
That was a new thought. Marinette having a crush? On him?

No way.

"A-Are you sure?"

She hummed. "As sure as I can be without seeing it myself. But that's usually what happens when girls like someone. She's just shy and awkward, Chat."

"Oh. Well, what should I do then?"

She hummed again, this time in thought, and place a finger on her chin. "I'm not sure. Just don't freak her out too much, I guess? I really don't know how to help you out. Maybe you could ask her if she wants to hang out, but not as a date, and go from there?"

Chat groaned. "Yeah. That'll go great."

A clock somewhere off in the distance chimed, and Ladybug shot a look it's way. "That's the end of patrol; I'll see you late, Chat Noir. Good luck!" With that, she salluted him and took off on her yo-yo.

Leaving him all alone on a rooftop in the darkening light, pondering where to go from there.

Making his way to the Dupain-Cheng bakery after dark without being seen was easy. Landing on Marinette's balcony was easy. Knocking on her trapdoor proved to be a little harder, but in reality, still easy.

Seeing her face to face and trying to come up with a reason for why he was there out of the blue was decidedly not. And speaking of blue, her eyes were the color of oceans under the light of a thousand stars, reflecting the lights from her room that radiated heat and happiness and-

"Chat Noir? What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Did Ladybug send you because of another akuma?" She asked, her wonderfully blue eyes worried but still absolutely gorgeous.

"Ah, no. I was just uhm…" He cleared his throat and pulled harder on his Chat suavity. "In the neighborhood and thought I would check up on my favorite princess." He flashed her one of his signature grins and winked.

She stared at him for a moment, blinking once. "Okay, cool. Check up complete?"

"This is the cat, not the doctor, princess. I'm afraid we'll have to wait for his synopsis. How about I stay here and wait with you?"

Another pause. "Are you alright, Chat?"

It was his turn to blink in confusion. "What?" He asked, mask pinching between his eyebrows.

"Are you okay? You're acting really weird. And you've seemed a little off these past few times you've been fighting akumas."

"O-oh. Heh. Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine."

"Are you sure?"

And looking at her with that kind, concerned look on her adorable face, Chat found he couldn't lie to her." "I'm… Not sure."

It only took her a few moments to come to a decision and then she was stepping back and motioning for him to hop down through the skylight. He raised his eyebrows at her and she motioned again as if to say, 'Yes, you mangy cat. Come on.'

So he hopped down onto her bed next to her, taking in the bright pinkness of her cozy room. It was the same as it was the last time he had been there, playing video games with her over at her desk, right by the Jagged Stone cutout and the-

And the Adrien Agreste photo collage on her wall with little hearts all around it, holy shit, Ladybug was right, and-

"Chat? Are you alright? You look sick."

"I'm fine, Princess." He choked out. She frowned and followed his line of sight before squeaking, her face heating up.

"Oh, ahaha, that's just- uhm, well you see- I'm a big fan of his dad's fashion line- er…"

They sat there for a moment in frozen silence, the awkward level rising like the temperature in the teenagers' cheeks.

Marinette coughed. "So, what were we talking about?"

"You were asking me if I was okay."

"Oh, right. What's wrong?" And then concerned, caring Marinette had replaced blushing, shy Marinette and Chat couldn't tell which he loved more- if he loved either more.

"Well… I'm not really sure." She nodded in understanding.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Kind of."

"Do you… want to talk about it with me?"

"Not really, no." She let out a shaky breath that turned into a small giggle that shot him right through the chest.

"Then why come here?"

"Because of this. Because you're so nice and the only one who I thought might listen or care or… I don't know."

"Alright, alright." She said, blushing again. "If you don't want me to talk with you about it, what do you want me to do?"

He thought about it for a moment, wondering if asking for a kiss was pushing it. "Maybe a hug?" He asked carefully.

She smiled easy at him. "I can do that." She opened her arms for him, which he eagerly dived into, burying his face in the junction of her neck and shoulder. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart which did nothing of the sort when he got a lungful of jasmine and roses and sugar, God, she smelled wonderful.

"It's alright." She soothed, smoothing out his crazy hair. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine, you shouldn't worry too much about it." If she kept combing her fingers through his hair like that he was going to-

His thoughts were cut off by the happy pur he had been trying to hold back as her nails scraped against his scalp briefly. She paused, a little giggle escaping before she went back to work.

"How can you tell? That everything will be fine." He asked around the low rumble coming from his chest. Plagg was going to get an earful for this crap, that's for sure.

Marinette shrugged, jostling him momentarily. "I just have a feeling."

"And…"

"And…?" She prompted quietly.

He took a deep breath. "And if I told you what was wrong? Would you still say everything will be fine?"

"I'm… Not sure. I guess that just depends on what's upsetting you so much. I can't see it being so horrible, though, that it wouldn't."

He mumbled his secret into her shoulder and she tried to lean back, but he tightened his arm around her waist.

"What did you say?" She asked. "I didn't hear you."

He took another deep breath before rushing out with it before it got swallowed up by his fear and never resurfaced.

"I like you a lot, Marinette."

She froze in Chat's arms, even her breathing going quiet. This hadn't been what he wanted to happen, but figured that's the reaction he would get from the shy girl.

"So? What's the verdict, doc?"

Her chest rose as she finally took in a breath before answering.

"Don't worry; everything will turn out fine."


End file.
